Jonah is our super hero this week and what a super hero he is! Besides seeing him with his cape billowing out behind him, you can catch Jonah being a great friend to others and being a great listener. Thanks, Jonah!
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Today we started our study of the signpost Contrasts & Contradictions. Basically, authors have spots in their writing where we need to stop and consider why. Today students were on the look out for times when a character says or does something that is opposite or contradicts what he or she has been saying and doing all along. When they get to a spot where that happens, they need to think, "why is the character doing that?"
We practiced this many times throughout the short story "Thank You, M'am" written by Langston Hughes. We read it aloud together, stopping to notice and note as a class, with elbow partners, and then finally by ourselves on a sticky note. Students were told that they not only need to stop and recognize when a character is acting in a way that surprises them, but they also need to answer the question "why is the character doing that?" That is the question that will push the students' thinking more deeply about the characters, plot, and conflict. If you read aloud to your child, or if they read aloud to you, and you get to a point where a character does something that surprises you, talk about it with your child and ask "why do you think the character did that?" Here is the chart we talked about today and some of the sticky notes that were put on our "Jot Lot." We have some great thinkers in here! I attached their sticky note to a quick feedback form. If both boxes are checked, then the student hit both learning targets for reading today. Hooray! Some students didn't explain their thoughts on the big question- Why is the character doing that?- and they will have one box checked. Very few students didn't follow the example and write about a part where the character surprised them and why the character did that. They will have no boxes checked. This is just a quick check to see how they are doing with it. Take a peek at your child's when it comes home to see if the learning targets were hit. In writing we have been looking at mentor texts of other authors and discussing how they paint such a detailed picture in our heads with their words. One way they do this is with a lot of detail, but another way is with their word choice. We discussed the importance of using strong verbs in our writing. My reader gets a much more detailed picture in their head with the words "screamed," "demanded," "shouted, "yelled," "whined," or "whispered" than they do with the word "said." Next, we will search through our writing for weak verbs that we can replace with stronger ones.
For a fun project on Friday, I wanted to see the strong verbs that the kids could come up with, so they made super ACTION heroes. Saige almost always has a smile on her face, except of course when she broke her arm. Ouch! She is super, indeed!
Today in reading we discussed how to have a SUPER conversation. This is such an essential skill for these third graders to learn. They will use it their entire lives. We talked about that to have those deep and meaningful conversations about books, ones that get you thinking in new ways, you have to be a good listener. You can't be thinking about what you are going to say while the other person is talking. All too often, students just take turns talking about their idea, instead of RESPONDING to what the other person said with a comment or a question. There are many adults that still struggle with this. After discussing it and modeling it, students were paired up to have a conversation about who they are as a reader so far this year. Students could share their reading logs (which has all the books they've started this year, along with their genre), how their reading homework is going at home, or a book they are currently reading. After they had a conversation for a bit, students reflected on how they did on today's learning target. It looks like students still felt like they really needed to work on asking follow up questions.
We are going to be practicing having super conversations throughout the year because they are going to need it for the rest of their lives. During our Community Time at the end of the day, we played a game called Super Hoops. In this game we used two hula hoops and got into two groups. Each student wrote their name on a super hero tag. The hula hoops were put on the floor to resemble a Venn Diagram. Students were given a statement like "I live with my mom or my dad or I live with both my mom and my dad." Asa group, they discussed things like what to do if you live with grandma? What if you live with your mom during the week, but your dad on the weekends? We discussed brothers and sisters, vanilla or chocolate ice cream, building with your hands or participating in sports, and liking reading or writing better. There were a couple who put their names on the outside of the Venn Diagram for liking reading or math or liking both reading and math, which means they don't like either. Uh oh! Hopefully we can change that by the end of the year!
I enjoyed getting to know the students even more and watching them discuss and problem solve. Thanks Mr. Bass, for letting us barrow your hula hoops! Students have been taught some strategies for coming up with personal narrative ideas.
Think of a person who matters to you and think of moments you've had with that person. Think of a place that matters to you and thinkbof moments you've had in that place. Think of an item that is special and thinkbof moments revolving around that item. Every day last week, students were encouraged to pick an idea from their list and give it a try to test if it's a good idea- one that they remember with detail and can write a story about it. At the end of writing time, students normally meet with one or two other people to share what they are working on. This week students will pick the one story idea from their notebooks that they want to work on for the rest of the unit. What a wonderful day for a walk to the high school for the pep assembly. The pep assembly was full of energy as we watched all the Mr. Paul and the rest of the administrators get dressed up like a favorite holiday. We cheered for the football players, sang the fight song, and played musical chairs. After we returned, we cleaned and organized our classroom before heading outside to read in the sunshine.
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Mrs. Ellis's Class
Learning & laughing our way through third grade. Archives
June 2020
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